[ILQSO] KJ9C meets Mr Murphy

[Mel Crichton]

I ran the exact same  mobile setup as in the Ohio QSO Party in August...
other than TR software going into Search and Pounce mode on its own, I knew
of no glitches. But I gave the rig and SUV a workout on Saturday just to be
sure. Antennas were right, and the tuner was preset to pernit the 40
hamstick
to be used on the low end of 40 meters as well as SSB.

First sign of trouble was BEFORE the contest started. I ran TR in GENERAL
QSO mode on the way to Illinois, just to be sure I had all the noise
abatement working right. But it took 15 minutes longer to get to the first
stop than I calculated ....And I drove the speed limit all the way until I
got behind a van full of Sunday schoolers..... Trying to make up time, the
40 meter hamstick took a BIG hit from an overhanging branch at 60 MPH....I
arrived at 1801Z and immediately called CQ from the corner of
Crawford/Richland/awrence counties and had a pileup. Not more than 20 QSOs
into the contest and I hear the effects of RF in the computer keying
line.... fiddling with wiring under a seat is no fun while trying to run
stations. So I switch to 40 meters and maybe 10 QSOs later (i.e. about 1815
Z) I notice the power output meter does not peak on every dit or dah... and
people start to back off calling me, likely because they can't make out my
call with bauds missing!

So is it the antenna or the coax or the mag mount or the tuner? A quick
switch back to 20 meters and CW keys well on that antenna... so it's
something in the 40 CW system.... but can't find it! No problem
receiving.... is something arcing inside the tuner? (with 100 watts? not
likely). But 40 holds in there with many fills needed, and I leave on time
with some 30 QSO's in the log which ain't bad for the first few minutes of a
state QSO party (multiplied by 3 for my location, I am off to a good start).

Pulling up stakes and heading west, the roads that I chose the week before
on the deLorme program turn out to be gravel... loose gravel and PLENTY
SLOW... instead of averaging 40-45 MPH cross country I am doing under 30
MPH. But I manage to make a number of very shaky 40 meter SSB contacts from
Richland and Clay counties,  so I start to suspect the tuner and its coax.
Then, as luck would have it, the road I was looking for to take me to the
corner of Marion/Fayette/Clay counties leads off into a field and seems to
quit after a half mile. Not having the map program running on the PC, I try
pot luck.... and end up PAST my target in Fayette county, heading north!
Backtracking (and giving out MANY counties in just a few minutes) I find my
corner almost an hour late and there's another BIG pileup! But as the pile
starts to dwindle and I notice the log, the log time is 47 minutes FASTER
than my wristwatch and dash clock. Did the stray RF affect the PC's clock?
Don't know, but it looks like keyer and paper log from here on out as I shut
down the computer. That's when I should have realized that I was due for
even BIGGER pileups (at one brief time I was running a 200 QSO per hour
rate). But with another 33 QSO's from the 3-county corner (mostly all CW) we
helped the score a lot.

The third stop, at Cumberland/Effingham/Jasper, was a rout! Of course it had
to be, as I was logging by hand and sending by hand. Fifty one CW QSOs in 40
minutes ain't bad considering I called CQ just once in the first 30 minutes.
But by now I was an hour and a half behind schedule, so when KF9D called me
I told him that Shelby County was all his to cover. I was going to skip it.
As it turned out, while driving up to Douglas county I passed through Shelby
for just a few minutes and gave it out once on 40 SSB. (You may notice that
I work SSB mostly while on the move... it's safer than trying to work CW on
the move).

Arriving at the corner of Coles/Douglas/Moultrie in the dark and now only 25
minutes late (due to THREE horse drawn buggies in less than 5 miles), it's
another pileup, but 20 meters produces little.... it's all 40 CW now with
few takers on 40 phone, so another 40 or so CW contacts in 25 minutes
operating are in the log from that corner.... heading back up the county
line I manage to make a few more CW QSO's but realize that everybody on
phone must be on 75 meters.... and I don't have an antenna. So it's gonna be
CW the rest of the night! Even CW on the move, logging by hand, when the
rate meters might peak at ten/hour.

I actually arrived at the intersection of Clark and Edgar on time, but not
close to Indiana where I had planned... instead, I found the county line
road just east of Coles County, leaving me a long drive home. But 40 CW was
long by then, and many west coast stations made the log. Pulling the plug at
0158, I headed east down the gravel road, I turned right onto a winding
paved road....but soon discovered that I had NO idea what direction it was
going. The  road, and the few small burgs I passed through, were not marked.
And the night sky was so clear and so unpolluted by artificial light (I mean
I was NOWHERE!) that the Milky Way made finding the north star difficult.
But keeping the Little Dipper behind me I eventually found I-70. Pulling
into a convenience store, the clerk and some locals were sharing a cigarette
out front. They asked "What kind of CB whips are those on your truck?"

My answer..... "Powerful ones, ma'am. Powerful ones."

306 raw QSOs after dupes removed, 70% CW, 34 states/provinces, about 40
counties... no idea what my score is... maybe 80 to 90,000

Thanks to all.... next year I will cover counties CLOSE to the interstates
and not
so many

Mel KJ9C/m